Contents

Role in the Book

At the start of the story, Hero Boy is sleeping quietly in his bed one Christmas Eve, listening for the sound of the bells from Santa's sleigh. He is suddenly awoken by sounds, sounds of a steam train that has pulled up in front of his house. After a Conductor steps outside and looks at his window, he puts on his robe and slippers and goes outside. The Conductor greets him and says that the train is called the Polar Express and it is going to the North Pole. Hero Boy climbs aboard and the train departs.

Near the end, the Polar Express stops in front of Hero Boy's house again to drop him off. Hero Boy, who had lost the silver bell Santa gave him at the North Pole, walks sadly back home. He waves goodbye from his front door while the Conductor wishes him a Merry Christmas, but has to repeat himself as Hero Boy did not hear the first time.

Hero Boy and Sarah open their presents the next morning. Sarah finds a small present with Hero Boy's name on it, and inside was the silver bell, along with a note informing him that the bell landed on the floor in Santa's sleigh. Hero Boy shakes the bell to create a beautiful sound he and Sarah both enjoy, unlike their parents, who cannot even hear it since they do not believe in Santa.

Role in the Film

Before the Trip

Like in the book, the story starts with Hero Boy sleeping on Christmas Eve listening for Santa's sleigh bells. He wakes up after hearing bells and thinks they might be from Santa's sleigh. He looks out his window to find nothing, but hears the bells again coming from outside his room, so he goes downstairs. He sees no presents under the tree, a plate with uneaten cookies, and a full glass of milk, but a shadow of what appears to be Santa appears. However, it turns out to be his father with Sarah, so he rushes back to his room before being seen. From his room, he watches his parents tuck Sarah into bed. Sarah tells them about some things Hero Boy told her regarding Santa's nonexistence, but they assure her that he was joking and say Santa will come only if she goes to sleep.

Hero Boy goes to his drawer and takes out a picture of himself at Herpolsheimer's, a piece of newspaper, and a magazine. The Herpolsheimer's picture depicts Hero Boy sitting on the lap of a department store Santa and pulling his fake beard. The newspaper has a story about department store Santas going on strike. He then looks up "North Pole" in an encyclopedia, which says that the North Pole is "stark, barren, devoid of life", before going back to bed.

Hero Boy is woken up again by his room shaking. He hears the sounds of a train and sees flashing lights pass by outside, so he goes outside. Sure enough, a train had stopped right in front of his house. A Conductor steps outside one of the cars. When Hero Boy walks up to him, he explains about the train and that Hero Boy has been showing signs of disbelief in Santa recently. Hero Boy turns the trip down, but immediately changes his mind and jumps onto the train just as it leaves.

After the Trip

Right before Hero Boy goes home, he says goodbye to Hero Girl and Know-It-All, who feel sorry for him losing the silver bell. Just as the train leaves, Hero Boy waves goodbye to the Conductor from his house, who shouts, "Merry Christmas!" The Hobo, who was on top of the train, waves goodbye too before vanishing one last time. On the way back to his room, he finds that Santa has still not arrived yet.

The next morning, Sarah excitedly wakes up Hero Boy, telling him Santa has been to their house. After he wakes up, she goes to wake up her parents. Later, Hero Boy and Sarah are downstairs opening presents. Sarah finds one small present behind the tree, which contains the silver bell he lost and the note. Hero Boy and Sarah enjoy its sound, but when their mother shakes it, she cannot hear it. Their father shakes it too, but he cannot hear a sound either. He thinks the reason why is because it is broken. The two children are later called by their mother and Hero Boy puts the bell on the table before going.

Trivia

In both the book and the film, Fritz the Dog appears as a puppet in Hero Boy's house in his room on top of his bedpost.